Innovation by using "Resource"

Ellen Domb sent this interesting Business Week news clipping. What an innovation? Let's interpret this from TRIZ point of view..

The concept of "Resources" is a fascinating branch in TRIZ. According to TRIZ everything around is resources for us. Anything that is free/low cost, easily attainable to solve our problem can be considered as resources. We can find resources inside our system (sub-system), and resources there in the immediate surrounding of our problem area, and of course maximum resources from the super-system, which we don't even consider or rather scoff at it!

Mobile Phones, Immobile Cars

Until now there have been few good ways for drivers to find out in real time about traffic accidents or rush-hour jams on their routes. Radio traffic reports can be hit-or-miss, and most local governments have been loath to invest in roadside sensors costing $100,000 a mile in order to provide more timely information.

Atlanta's AirSage says it has a way to get the job done. It uses proprietary software algorithms that measure the number, speed, and density of cell-phone signals in cars along the road. The more concentrated the signals, the heavier the traffic volume. In 46 cities in the U.S., AirSage receives a continuous feed of radio-signal data (with the identifying information stripped out) from Sprint (S ). It then looks for high signal density and slow vehicle speeds, which indicate a traffic jam.

For now, AirSage is selling its real-time analysis to local governments as well as to radio and TV stations in the 46 markets. But the company might someday provide this data in color-coded maps--marking roads green if traffic is flowing and red where it's congested--to cell phones and car navigation systems. The data could also help reroute traffic in dire storms.

By Dean Foust